Key European officials struggle to stop a disagreement over the terms of a second bailout for Greece from spilling over to big euro countries, such as Italy.
European Union President Herman Van Rompuy, usually in charge of the summits of EU leaders, is having an unscheduled meeting with top finance officials including the president of the European Central Bank and the EU’s monetary affairs commissioner to discuss how to get banks to contribute to a new rescue package for Greece.
The involvement of the private sector could well be interpreted by the credit rating agencies as a partial default by Greece — a notion that unsettled financial markets last week, especially in Italy.
Van Rompuy’s special get-together precedes a regular meeting of eurozone finance ministers Monday afternoon.
